CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team begins a busy road stretch to finish the 2023 season starting Friday at 5 p.m. with the opener of a three-game series at USC Upstate in Spartanburg. The Blue Hose and Spartans continue their series on Saturday at 2 p.m. before the series finale set for Sunday at 1 p.m. with all three games set to be shown on ESPN+.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Presbyterian (17-25, 8-10 Big South) at USC Upstate (26-15, 12-3 Big South)
WHERE: Cleveland S. Harley Park (Spartanburg, S.C.)
WHEN: 5 p.m. (Fri.) | 2 p.m. (Sat.) | 1 p.m. (Sun.)
THE SERIES (Since 2008): USC Upstate Leads 19-13
FOLLOW THE ACTION
LIVE STATS: Sidearm Stats (All Three Games)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ (Fri.) | ESPN+ (Sat.) | ESPN+ (Sun.)
RADIO: Fox Sports Spartanburg (98.3 FM, 1400 AM)
TWITTER: @PresbyterianBSB
GAME NOTES
ON THE MOUND
Friday
PC – RHP Duncan Howard (2-3, 5.71 ERA, 42 K)
UPST – RHP Reese Dutton (7-2, 2.55 ERA, 70 K)
Saturday
PC – LHP Charlie McDaniel (3-6, 6.20 ERA, 44 K)
UPST – LHP Henry Proger (6-4, 3.97 ERA, 50 K)
Sunday
PC – TBA
UPST – RHP Mathieu Curtis (4-2, 6.46 ERA, 31 K)
About the Blue Hose
• PC looks to carry the momentum from a 6-2 midweek win into a weekend series against USC Upstate as the Blue Hose head down the stretch for the final nine Big South games beginning on Friday. The Spartans have not been in action since Sunday when finishing a sweep of Radford.
Scouting USC Upstate
• USC Upstate comes in with a 26-15 record including a 12-3 mark in league play after a three-game sweep of Radford last time out. The Spartans are led offensively by Troy Hamilton who comes into the series hitting .323 with seven doubles, five homers and 35 RBIs. Kyle Henington sits at .310 with four doubles and Cole Caruso checks in with a .307 average totaling nine doubles. Grant Sherrod leads Upstate with 11 doubles, nine homers and 46 RBIs. On the mound, Noah Sullivan leads the Spartans not allowing an earned run in 12.1 innings with 16 strikeouts. Jake Cubbler is 2-0 with four saves and a 1.90 ERA on the season. Reese Dutton leads the USC Upstate starters with a 7-2 mark to go along with a 2.55 ERA and 70 strikeouts.
Head to Head vs USC Upstate
• USC Upstate holds a 19-13 edge in the head-to-head series including the Spartans taking each of the eight meetings between the two schools. The Spartans completed a three-game sweep last season of the Blue Hose in Clinton.
• In the 2021 series, Jack Gorman led the Blue Hose hitting .636 (7-of-11) with three doubles and three RBIs. Brody Fahr and Kyle Decker were each 4-of-11 in the series. All three games were one-run contests against USC Upstate in Clinton during the 2021 season.
Blue Hose Close Season as Road Warriors
• With the Blue Hose on the home stretch of the 2023 season, PC will have to do a majority of the work on the road as the Blue Hose are set to play 11 of their final 14 games away from Clinton beginning on Friday at USC Upstate.
• Following the three-game series in Spartanburg, PC takes a final step out of conference the following weekend with a trip to Miami to battle the nationally ranked Hurricanes. After the trip to Coral Gables, PC travels to Cullowhee for a midweek matchup before returning home for senior weekend against Longwood.
• The final regular season week features a road matchup at Alabama State before a trip to Radford to battle the Highlanders.
Blue Hose in the Ranks
• Brody Fahr is tied for third in the league with three triples on the season. He's also tied for fourth in the conference in hits with 55 on the year.
• Tanner Smith is atop the league in saves with six. Luke Gibson is 10th in the league with a pair of saves.
• Charlie McDaniel is second in the Big South with a 4.4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. McDaniel is tops in the conference with 1.68 walks allowed per nine innings. He sits among the top 10 nationally in games started with a team-high 11 starts this season.
• Colbey Klepper and Gibson are tied for third in the league and 30th in the nation in appearances with 21 on the season.
• Freshman Kyle Mueller is tied for second in league play with four victories. He also leads the team and is inside the top 10 in the league with five overall wins.
• As a team, PC leads the conference with nine saves led by Smith with six saves.
Fahr Red-Hit at the Plate over Last 17 Games
• Fahr has reached base safely in the last 17 games including hits in 10 straight contests entering Friday's opener in Spartanburg. The Blue Hose shortstop is hitting .420 (29-of-69) with 14 runs scored and 12 runs knocked in. He's added six doubles, a triple along with a homer.
• He's tallied multiple hits in 10 contests including three games with three hits during the current 17-game stretch. Fahr has raised his batting average 47 points from .301 to .348 during the 17-game tear he's been on as of late.
Fenderson Named Big South Freshman of the Week
• Presbyterian College baseball freshman Trey Fenderson (Spanish Fort, Ala.) has been named the Big South Freshman of the Week for games played April 17-23, as announced by the league office on Monday.
• Fenderson finished the week with a .313 average (5-of-16) with four runs scored along with a double and a pair of homers in a 2-2 week for the Blue Hose. The PC third baseman also tallied five runs knocked in and drew a pair of walks in the four-game week for Presbyterian.
• He got off to a quick start in the midweek battle with ETSU connecting on his second homer of the season in a six-run first that helped carried PC past the Bucs 16-3 on Wednesday night.In the series opener against Gardner-Webb he tallied another base knock before opening Saturday's tilt with a solo homer as part of a seven-run first against the Runnin' Bulldogs. He also added an RBI single that capped the 13-3 victory over Gardner-Webb. In the series finale, Fenderson added an RBI single along with drawing a bases-loaded walk that gave him his second multiple RBI contest in as many days.
Mueller's Fifth Win Nets Freshman of the Week Honors
• Following 4.1 shutout innings in the Blue Hose 10-3 victory over Winthrop, Presbyterian College baseball freshman Kyle Mueller (Winter Haven, Fla.) has been named Big South Freshman of the Week for games played April 10-16, as announced by the league office on Monday.
• Mueller entered with a 4-3 lead and two outs in the fourth and after recording a quick lineout to push to the fifth inning he was able to sit the Eagles down 1-2-3 in the inning.
• The Blue Hose freshman worked around a one-out single in the sixth without harm before a strikeout in the scoreless seventh inning. He worked around a two-out single in the eighth with a strikeout to tally the victory. Mueller was also pushed to a 10-3 lead during his outing with six runs of support on the offensive side of the ball.
• Mueller currently sits with a 5-1 record with a 4.66 ERA over 29 innings making 14 appearances with three starts on the season. The Winter Haven, Fla. native has 24 strikeouts compared to nine walks on the season. He's tied for the top spot in Big South play with four wins in his league outings this season
